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CapTon’s Liz Alesse sent this photo from Meeting Room 6 where Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is hosting a post-State of the State reception. It’s the standard NYC deli fare – bagels, smoked salmon (lox, for those of you who speak Kosher) with all the trimmings, various cream cheeses, salads and pastries. This event traditionally took More »

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Here’s the most humorous moment of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s first State of the State address… …That would be the part where he likens the budget process to ships passing in the night, with himself, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos as the captains of their respective vessels and the special interests More »

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2:51 p.m. Takeaway: We’re here as New Yorkers first. To the Legislature (yelling now): “Stand up and write a new page in the history book of NYS government!” And he’s out. Overall time: 48 minutes. 2:50 p.m. Pep talk time. “We were just the best and we were the model for the nation. That’s the More »

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2:04 p.m. Looking forward to working together…seize the opportunity and get to work. God bless etc. Skelos out. (He spoke for 7:15 minutes; Silver spoke for 9). 2:02 p.m. Obviously, the legislative leaders aren’t sticking to the time limit, which I thought was supposed to be somewhere in the neighborhood of five minutes. OH! Eliot More »

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Mayor Bloomberg trotted out one of his favorite adjectives – “disgrace” – to describe the leadership of the Senate Democrats over the past two years, adding: “I think most people, regardless of party, think that.” Bloomberg, who quietly sent $900,000 to the Senate GOP’s housekeeping account during the 2010 campaign, said he looks forward to More »

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NYSUT has launched a feel-good statewide radio ad campaign designed to remind New Yorkers that union members are “made up of their friends and neighbors who accomplish remarkable things every day in their classrooms and communities.” The ads feature elementary school teachers – Margaret King of Long Island and Andrea Figueroa of Jamestown. No word More »

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I just ran into the last remaining member of the old amigos – Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. – in the hallway outside the Senate majority offices on the Capitol’s third floor. I asked him what he thought of the new independent conference and if he plans to join it. In short, no. In fact, the More »

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“It was a little bit of Kumbya and a little of aimless wandering.” That’s how one labor source who attended last night’s pre-SoS union summit at the Albany Crowne Plaza described the get-together, which, as far as I can tell, was more of a “we’re all in this together” pep rally than a substantive planning More »

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Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos emerged from a brief closed-door confab with Mayor Bloomberg in a very good mood. The two men exchanged pleasantries and praise for the cameras (no wonder, remember that the mayor sent close to $1 million to the Senate GOP coffers during the 2010 election cycle, and bet the right horse More »

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As expected, the Senate Republicans have named Frank Patience to serve as secretary of the Senate, a post previously held by the (somewhat controversial) Angelo Aponte during the Democrats’ brief stint in the majority. “Frank Patience has proven himself to be a skilled administrator who will be an asset to every member of the New More »

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Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson released the following statement in response to the new independence conference formed by Sens. Klein, Savino, Valesky and Carlucci: “Today should not be about politics. Our common goal should be progress – working with Governor Cuomo to move our state forward. ” “Closing the budget gap, getting New Yorkers More »

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Meet the new Independent Conference of the state Senate, or, if you prefer, the new amigos. They are, as it turns out, four: Sens. Jeff Klein, Diane Savino, David Carlucci and David Valesky. They will be voting “no” today on the resolutions to elect John Sampson as the minority leader AND Dean Skelos as the More »

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Former NYC Mayor Ed Koch is commemorating Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s first State of the State address with a congratulatory message on his NY Uprising PAC’s Website that also calls on the governor not to forget his campaign promise to support budget, ethics and redistricting reform. The site now features a banner that proclaims Cuomo (who More »

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Sen. Jeff Klein is not going away quietly. In the wake of his ouster as the head of the DSCC and subsequent resignation as Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson’s deputy, Klein appears poised to break from the minority and form his own independent caucus. Klein put out a media advisory this morning about a “major More »

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Shelley Mayer, who has served as counsel to the Senate Democrats since they took the majority in 2008, confirmed she is among the central staffers who will be departing Albany now that the conference is back in the minority. Mayer has no new job lined up, but might take yet another stab at entering the More »

dave: Can I ask a stupid question? Why does New York still have Regents? Aren’t we the ONLY state that still...

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Capitol Confidential gathers the best coverage of New York politics and puts it all together. Each section - Capitol, The State Worker, New York on the Potomac, and Voices - represents a unique facet of the political scene. The Capitol section features coverage from the Times Union Capitol bureau. The State Worker is dedicated to state worker issues. New York on the Potomac offers news of interest to New Yorkers from Washington. And Voices features the best of everything else, pointing you to columnists and bloggers from across the Web.